In August 2016, the Western Australian Government under the then Liberal Premier, Colin Barnett announced that it would commit to a container deposit scheme. In September 2017, after an election, the WA Government, under ALP Premier Mark McGowan confirmed that the WA CDS would indeed go ahead and that it was scheduled to commence in January 2019.

In light of the implementation of a state-wide ban on lightweight plastic shopping bags and acknowledgement of the criticisms arising from a short implementation period for the NSW CDS in 2017, a decision was taken by the McGowan government to delay the establishment of the scheme until early 2020, to allow adequate time to plan and implement the scheme effectively across Australia’s largest state.

The WA Government estimates that over a 20-year period, the scheme will prevent more than 700 million beverage containers from entering the litter stream and almost 6 billion containers from being sent to landfill, with a net positive benefit to the WA economy of more than $150 million. It is also anticipated that the scheme will create around 500 jobs in support of the infrastructure and processing frameworks that will emerge as the scheme gets underway.

Boomerang Alliance has been actively supporting the WA Government work to design the CDS scheme and we look forward to its implementation early in 2020.

The South Australian Container Deposit Scheme is the legacy Australian scheme, having commenced in 1977. Collecting more than 600 million containers in 2017-18 and employing more than 5,000 people across the state through waste and recycling services, the South Australian scheme received a National Trust Heritage Icon Award in 2017. The award recognised the positive impact that the scheme has had in reducing litter and conserving the state’s environment over its 40 years of operation.

The ongoing benefits of the scheme are readily apparent. SA reports that beverage containers make up less than 3% of the state’s litter stream, which represents the lowest percentage in any Australian state. Similarly, the SA Environment Protection Authority reports a return rate of 76.9% for eligible beverage containers. In addition, the scheme proudly boasts a long history of supporting charities and community groups like the SA Scouting Association, which have benefited significantly from revenue received in the form of refunds donated by the SA community over many years.

The ACT Government announced in September 2016 that they would introduce a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) in early 2018 to reduce litter, recover eligible containers, increase the recycling rates of used beverage containers and help engage the community in active and positive recycling behaviours.

The scheme was officially launched on June 30th, 2018 and reported the collection of more than 450,000 containers in the first month of operation, equating to more than $45,000 in refunds paid out.

The ACT scheme is operated through a combination of Bag Drop and Go locations for returns of up to 500 containers, and Bulk Depots which can handle the return of more than 500 containers at a time. The return points are operated by charities including Vinnies, the Salvos and Anglicare, which benefit through the receipt of deposits donated by the ACT community, as well as driving increased shopper traffic to the charities’ stores and helping to increase sales revenue.

The scheme has also provided a great social enterprise model, providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities under the NDIS, through organisations such as LEAD and Sharing Places.

The materials being collected through the ACT CDS are also finding uses. Glass, plastics and other recyclables are being combined into a new road surfacing material called Reconophalt, which is being trialled in road projects around Canberra.

The Northern Territory’s Container Deposit Scheme was initially implemented in January 2012, but the scheme’s introduction wasn’t all smooth sailing. Despite some 35 million containers being collected in the first 12 months, beverage companies including, Coca Cola, Lion and Schweppes, mounted a legal challenge against the scheme in December 2012. The beverage producers argued that the NT CDS contravened the Commonwealth Mutual Recognition Act, which seeks to ensure that products and services provided in Australian states and territories are done so under consistent conditions.

In March 2013, the beverage suppliers won the court battle and the scheme ceased operation, in the face of significant frustration from the NT community. Activist group ‘Out of Order’ responded by placing 'Out of Order' signs on Coca Cola Amatil vending machines in capital cities across Australia, intending to deliver a blow to drink sales nationwide for a brief period.

The NT Government, however, was determined to continue the fight and covered the cost of deposits to keep the scheme in action, while launching an appeal through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). Ultimately, the Federal Executive Council (ExCo) agreed and the NT scheme was reinstated in August 2013, forcing the beverage companies to resume the repayment of deposits on eligible containers.

While the impost of the NT CDS on the beverage companies was relatively small, it is believed that the court action in the NT was designed to demonstrate the financial power of the beverage manufacturers in the hope of discouraging other jurisdictions from considering implementation of similar schemes.

Thankfully, the NT Government held its ground and placed environmental concerns ahead of big business pressure. The NT CDS continues to grow in popularity, having reached more than 84% returns in the 2018-19 financial year – a massive increase on the previous very low recycling rate. See the regular reports.

The NSW Container Deposit Scheme (Return and Earn) commenced on 1 December 2017. We were relieved to have made it to that point, as many people said it would never happen.

Prior to 2017, about 160 million beverage containers were littered in NSW every year. They are now worth around $16 million a year in refunds and the people of NSW have embraced the scheme. More than 1 billion containers were collected in the first year (2018) alone! The rate doubled in 2019. Recycling has increased from 33% to 70%. Litter is down by almost 40%.

There are several ways to redeem your 10c refund in NSW:

Reverse Vending Machines, located in convenient places all over NSW;

Over the Counter Collection Points, including local convenience stores and cafes,

Automated Depots where families, individuals, community groups, sports clubs etc can take a boot load, trailer load or just a big bag.

You can check out the location of these collection points here. More are being added and you can still register to be a collection point or host a Reverse Vending Machine. So if you want more locations near you, get out and talk to potential site owners and email enquiries@tcnsw.com.au to register your interest.

The NSW scheme took a while to settle in, as the amount of time between the Government confirming who would operate the network and the start date of the scheme was too short to install all the collection sites that were promised. The implementation is a gradual process as the best sites and customer demand are proven over time. Some consumers have justifiably been frustrated but it’s important to remember that you won’t lose the value of the deposit you’ve paid – the containers can be stored until you can get them to a return point, so just hold onto them until it’s convenient.

The convenience of collection points has always been important and we continue to push for a world class system that is as accessible to consumers as much as possible.

It’s your choice though – you can keep using the council recycling bin and know that council can use that refund money to improve waste services in your community (Councils can negotiate to share in the deposit); or you can take them to your nearest collection point when it’s convenient for you… or you can choose to donate your refunds to a local good cause.

There were some concerns that the cost of beverages would increase above the value of the 10c deposit and handling fee. The NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) reported in September, after 9 months of price monitoring across the state, that in fact, the cost of beverages had increased below the amount of the 10c deposit, so those consumers who were making use of the scheme to return their containers and redeem their deposits, were actually paying less for beverages than before the scheme began.

Sure, it’s been a slightly bumpy road but the teething problems have been ironed out and the results have demonstrated that it’s worth the effort. NSW already has a much cleaner environment, with far fewer bottles and containers finding their way into the litter stream. We have charities and social enterprises that are earning vital revenue through donated deposits and we have significantly reduced the quantity of plastic container that have found their way to the ocean – what’s not to love?

On September 5th 2017, we welcomed the unanimous passage of the Waste Reduction and Recycling Amendment Bill through the Queensland Parliament, which confirmed a Container Refund Scheme (CRS) for Queensland.

This policy represents the most significant litter and plastic pollution measures introduced into Queensland in generations. It's a great leap forward for litter reduction, recycling and collection (and the jobs that go with this) and for community organisations who can make money from collecting bottles and cans.

Under the Container Refund Scheme, eligible beverage containers are worth 10c each. This presents a significant opportunity for community groups to raise additional funds through the collection and return of containers

The Queensland Scheme is called 'Containers for Change' and is operated by Container Exchange, a not-for-profit entity set up by the beverage industry.

You can learn more about how the scheme works, find where you can redeem containers and which containers are eligible, and how you can get involved at the Containers for Change website.

Your hard work is paying off! NSW, QLD, ACT and WA all have committed to introduce a deposit scheme on bottles and cans in the years to come. We now need your support to get Victoria to join them. It doesn't matter if you live in another state, taking action today will help protect our wonderful oceans and clean up Australia.

We are welcoming the change to the start date of the NSW Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) to the 1st of December 2017 as good policy and congratulated the government on listening to the many requests for more time to rollout a better serviced scheme.